Article

Special education participation in children with epilepsy: what does it reflect?

Epilepsy Center, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL 60614, USA.
Epilepsy & Behavior (impact factor: 2.34). 08/2011; 22(2):336-41. DOI:10.1016/j.yebeh.2011.07.014 pp.336-41
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Epilepsy is associated with academic and neurocognitive disorders, with the latter often assumed to explain the former. We examined utilization of special education services (SpES) in relation to neurocognitive test scores in a case-matched sibling control study. In a follow-up assessment 8-9 years after entry into a prospective study of childhood-onset epilepsy, cases and siblings participated in an interview and standardized neurocognitive testing. Analyses included 142 pairs in which both had Full Scale IQ ≥ 80 and the case had normal examination and imaging. Sixty-four (45%) cases and 25 (17.6%) controls reported SpES utilization, (matched odds ratio [mOR]=5.3, P<0.0001). Adjustment for neurocognitive test scores resulted in a mOR of 4.6 (P<0.0001). Types and duration of services were similar in cases and controls. Twenty-four percent of school-aged cases were already receiving services at the time of initial epilepsy diagnosis. Young people with epilepsy have academic difficulties that are not explained simply by cognitive test scores.

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  • Article: Special education needs of children with newly diagnosed epilepsy.
    Anne T Berg, Susan N Smith, Daniel Frobish, Susan R Levy, Francine M Testa, Barbara Beckerman, Shlomo Shinnar
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    ABSTRACT: Children with epilepsy often experience poor social and educational outcomes. This study aimed to determine the timing of services with respect to the onset of seizures. It also aimed to identify the aspects of childhood epilepsy (type of epilepsy, etiology, seizure control, and treatment) that are associated with the use of special education services. As part of a prospective community-based study, 613 children were recruited when first diagnosed with epilepsy. Mean age at first seizure was 5 years 11 months (SD 4, range 1mo to 15y 8mo). Parents were interviewed 5 years after children were first diagnosed with epilepsy (n=542; 276 [51%] males). Children's mean age at time of interview was 11 years 10 months (SD 4y 1mo, range 5y 8mo to 21y 8mo). Etiology was classified as idiopathic (n=181, 33.4%), cryptogenic (n=261, 48.2%), and remote symptomatic (n=100, 18.5%). Service use was reported in 315 (58%) children. Compared with neurologically intact children (i.e. cryptogenic and idiopathic etiology; n=415, 77%), children with a remote symptomatic etiology and/or an epileptic encephalopathy (n=127, 23%) received services more frequently (88% vs 49%, p<0.001). In the former group, services were initiated for 66 (15%) children before their first seizure; according to age at onset, services were initiated before the first seizures in 12/164 (7.3%) if <5 years, 34/171 (19.9%) if 5-9 years, and 20/80 (25%) if >10 years. A large proportion of children with epilepsy, even if neurologically otherwise normal, receive special education services. Initiation of services often precedes onset of seizures even in neurologically intact children. This suggests that behavioral and cognitive abnormalities may predate the onset of epilepsy and are not necessarily the direct consequences of epilepsy.
    Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 12/2005; 47(11):749-53. · 2.92 Impact Factor
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Keywords

Analyses
 
case-matched sibling control study
 
cases
 
childhood-onset epilepsy
 
cognitive test scores
 
epilepsy
 
follow-up assessment 8-9 years
 
former
 
initial epilepsy diagnosis
 
neurocognitive disorders
 
neurocognitive test scores
 
school-aged cases
 
services
 
special education services
 
standardized neurocognitive testing
 
Young people
 

Anne T Berg